DOVER, Del. — Joey Logano finished second in the Sunoco 150 at Dover Int’l Speedway on Friday, but became the NASCAR Busch East Series’ first rookie champion.
Sean Caisse took the lead from Logano with just eight laps to go and withstood a final charge by Logano on the one-mile concrete oval to win by a car length.
Pole-winner Jeffrey Earnhardt gained new Northern fans and turned heads with a contending run to finish third. It was the 18-year-old Earnhardt’s best finish of the season and his fourth top-five finish over the last six races of the season.
Jesus Hernandez placed fourth, followed by Tim McCreadie.
By virtue of NASCAR’s lower age limit of 16 starting this year for its touring series, Logano is also the youngest champion. Logano turned 17 on May 24. His base second-place prize money of $9,361 pushed his season race winnings to $100,786.
Logano, hired as a development driver by Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2007 season, revealed uncommon talent by leading the standings all but one week during the early season and drove on to five wins and 10 top-five finishes in 13 races, setting a record for races won by a rookie. The previous record was two-win seasons by three different rookie drivers.
Logano praised his teammates in sharing the title.
“My crew chief Mike Sibley is one of the greatest out there,” Logano said. “Everyone on the team has worked so hard, and it paid off. Every time we went to the race track we had a chance to win. But there are 10 teams who could win every single week. The Busch East Series has great competition.”
The finish:
Showing driver, car, laps completed and money won: 1. Sean Caisse, Chevrolet, 150, $13,500; 2. Joey Logano, Chevrolet, 150, $10,661; 3. Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 150, $10,000; 4. Jesus Hernandez, Chevrolet, 150, $7,500; 5. Tim McCreadie, Chevrolet, $150, $7,000; 6. Chase Austin, Dodge, 150, $6,000; 7. Marc Davis, Chevrolet, 150, $5,700; 8. Steve Park, Ford, 150, $4,600; 9. Peyton Sellers, Chevrolet, 150, $4,700; 10. Max Dumarey, Dodge, 150, $5,000; 11. Richard Gould, Chevrolet, 150, $3,700; 12. Jerry Marquis, Chevrolet, 150, $4,150; 13. Jeff Anton, Chevrolet, 150, $4,100; 14. Rogelio Lopez, Chevrolet, 150, $4,000; 15. Mike Olsen, Chevrolet, 147, $4,550; 16. Dion Ciccarelli, Chevrolet, 146, $3,900; 17. Ruben Pardo, Dodge, 140, $3,850; 18. Eddie MacDonald, Chevrolet, 139, $3,800; 19. Scott Bouley, Chevrolet, 137, $3,750; 20. Michelle Theriault, Chevrolet, 136, $3,725; 21. Matt Kobyluck, Chevrolet, 116, $3,700; 22. John Freeman, Dodge, 115, $3,675; 23. Ryan Seaman, Chevrolet, 113, $3,150; 24. Jonathan Smith, Chevrolet, 112, $3,600; 25. Bryon Chew, Chevrolet, 92, $3,500; 26. Tim Andrews, Chevrolet, 85, $3,000; 27. Antonio Perez, Chevrolet, 84, $3,000; 28. Jamie Hayes, Chevrolet, 64, $3,500; 29. Brian Ickler, Chevrolet, 42, $3,000; 30. John Salemi, Chevrolet, 7, $3,500.